Method for securing door frame components

ABSTRACT

Apparatus is provided for securing a door frame casing piece to a side jamb rapidly and effectively. The apparatus operates to hold the casing piece and side jamb in door frame relation while causing the side jamb to be toenailed to the casing piece and the casing piece to be square nailed to the side jamb. The nailing is done by respective fastener forming and inserting means, at least one of which is uniquely arranged to actuate feeding of a fastener length of wire stock, forming of a fastener from the fed length, and insertion of the formed fastener, from the working stroke of a reciprocating plunger.

[451 Feb. 12, 1974 [5 METHOD FOR SECURING DOOR FRAME 2,730,773 1/1956 .Logue 49/380 COMPONENTS 2,914,817 12/1959 Jackson 49/380 2,936,457 5/1960 Chafin et a1. 227/152 X Inventor: y Smilh, Atlanta, 3,00s,143 11/1961 Bagwell et a1. 227/93 Assigneez Textron Inc, Providence R1. 3,411,240 11/1968 Groat 52/213 Filed: 1972 Primary ExaminerCharlie T. Moon [21] Appl No; 222,534 2 Attorney, Agent, or FirmRichards, Shefte & Pinckey Related US. Application Data 57] ABSTRACT [62] Division ofSer. No. 102,035, Dec. 28, 1970, Patv No.

3,672,554 Apparatus is provided for securing a door frame casing piece to a side jamb rapidly and effectively. The 52 us. 01 29/432, 29/526, 49/380, apparatus Operates to hold the Casing Piece and Side 52/210 52/213 jamb in door frame relation while causing the side 51 int. Cl 1323p 11/00 jamb to be toenailed to the casing piece and the casing [58] Field of Search 29/432 227/148 93, 152; piece to be square nailed to the side jamb. The nailing 287/189 36 H, 2092 R, 2092; 49/380; is done by respective fastener forming and inserting 52/210, 211 213 means, at least one of which is uniquely arranged to actuate feeding of a fastener length of wire stock,

[56] References Cited forming of a fastener from the fed length, and inser- UNITED STATES PATENTS tion of the formed fastener, from the working stroke of a reciprocating plunger. 2,292,301 8/1942 Smith 52/210 X 2,728,956 1/1956 Jackson 49/380 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures amnted Feb. 12, 1974 W 4 Shams-Sheet 3 Patented Feb. 12, 1974 4 Shwts-Sheet 4 METHOD FOR SECURING DOOR FRAME COMPONENTS CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a division of parent application Ser. No. 102,035, filed Dec. 28, 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,672,554, which contains claims to the apparatus disclosed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Because most building structures, particularly residential buildings, contain more door than window openings, a good deal of door framing must be handled at construction sites, and as the door framing is ordinarily assembled prior to delivery to the site, there has heretofore been considerable difficulty encountered in avoiding damage to the assemblies during delivery and installation handling.

A prior art proposal directed in part to dealing with such difficulty is found in US. Pat. No. 3,41 1,240, although the proposal there disclosed leaves the attachment of the casing piece to the side jambs much weaker, and consequently more likely to form a focal point of damage, than is desirable.

The present invention makes it possible to attach casing pieces to side jambs in a particularly secure and serviceable manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention securing of a door frame casing piece to a side jamb is effected by holding the casing piece and side jamb in door frame relation, and, while holding the same, toenailing the former to the latter and square nailing the latter to the former. The square nailing combines with the toenailing to lock the components in secured relation and to add surprising strength against disarrangement of these components during handling of a door frame assembly in g which they are employed.

The apparatus provided for securing the casing piece and side jamb components in this manner comprises means for cyclically clamping the components in door frame relation and respective fastener inserting and forming means arranged to do the toenailing and square nailing in timed relation to operation of the clamping means, so that the fastener insertion can be repeated rapidly at spaced intervals lengthwise of the components.

The fastener forming and inserting means employed are of the type by which fasteners are formed from a continuous length of wire fed from a coiled supply, and at least one of them incorporates simplified means for feeding the wire from the working stroke of a reciprocating plunger that also causes formation and insertion of the fasteners.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of apparatus embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a length of assembled door frame casing piece and side jamb illustrating the manner of securing according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the apparatus, as would be seen from the right in FIG. 1, showing the door frame components supported in position for securing;

FIG. 4 is a corresponding side elevation showing the components being clamped and secured;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the clamping anvil structure; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail taken substantially at the line 66 in FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The general arrangement of apparatus for securing door frame components in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 as comprising a base member 10 from which a pair of spaced side plates 12 and 14 rise to carry the various operating elements, so that the door frame components may be passed transversely through the side plates at about waist height on guideways 16 extending to each side sufficiently to support the components as they are fed for securing at spaced intervals and as they issue progressively at the other side of the apparatus after securing.

The operating elements include a first fastener forming and inserting means 18 in which the operating head is of the same sort disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,112,056, except it is turned on its side to insert fasteners in a horizontal direction for the previously mentioned toenailing, and the wire supply reel 20 is mounted on the base member 10. A second fastener forming and inserting means 22 is arranged betweeen the side plates 12 and 14 for the square nailing mentioned and has an operating head corresponding generally with that shown in US. Pat. No. 2,566,104, except that the actuating and wire feeding arrangement is different as will be noted further presently. The wire supply reel 24 is mounted at the outside face of the side plate 14 for the second fastener means, and an actuating treadle 26 is arranged adjacent the base member 10 for operating the securing means at selected intervals.

FIG. 2 illustrates the relative arrangement of a length of door frame casing piece C and side jamb S having the latter toenailed to the former by toenailed fasteners f and the former adjacently square nailed to the latter by fasteners f at intervals of any desired spacing. As previously mentioned the combined toe and square nailing secures these components with exceptional strength and allows door frames to be assembled at particular advantage in this respect.

The disposition of the casing piece C and side jamb S for securing by the FIG. 1 apparatus is illustrated in FIG. 3 in which an angle piece 28, that is mounted across spaced wing plates 30 attached to and extending outwardly from the side plates 12 and 14 (compare FIGS. 1 and 3), is shown carrying a supporting block 32 and a backing block 34 on which the door frame components rest, with the casing piece C angled enough from horizontal for toenailing of the right angularly related side jamb thereto by the first fastener forming and inserting means 18, while the second fastener and inserting means 22 is oriented for the square nailing; The supporting block 32 is formed with a lip portion 32 along the edge thereof adjacent the backing block 34 to provide a locating stop by which the edge of the casing pieceC that is to be secured is positioned to underlie the corresponding edge of the side jamb S in door frame relation. The angle piece 28, supporting block 32, and backing block 34 are all suitably apertured or notched to provide respective clearance for the operating disposition of the first and second fastener means 18 and 22.

In order to hold the door frame components for each nailing operation, a clamping means is provided that includes an anvil structure having a pair of plate members 36 shaped with right angularly related leg portions and assembled in spaced relation at each side of a shank 38 that has a contact nose 40 of right angular form installed at its lower end in alignment with the contour of the plate members 36 (see FIGS. and 6). The anvil structure shank 38 is carried at the extending end of the piston rod of a fluid-actuated power cylinder 42 which is bolted in place with an adjustment plate 44 on a cross member 46 secured at the top of the side plates 12 and 14 at an inclination that aligns the anvil structure for bearing against the back faces of the door frame components when the power cylinder 42 is actuated.

In addition, the anvil structure includes a resiliently mounted foot member 48 that is biased by a backing spring 50 and slidably carried by a yoke structure 52 which is clamped on the front legs of the spaced plate members 36 between lug portions 54 and a clamp bar 56 at a location that will present the foot member 48 against the adjacent edge of the casing piece C to press the opposite edge thereof against the locating lip portion 32 of the supporting block 32 when the anvil structure is otherwise brought to bear at the back faces of the door frame components. As the anvil structure is disposed on the power cylinder 42 in symmetrical relation to the supported arrangement of the door frame components and the leg portions of plate members 36 are right angularly related, it will be seen that the foot member 48 is mounted to act on an axis of 45 to the operating axis of power cylinder 42.

The clamping means for holding the door frame components in place during securing further includes a second fluid-actuated power cylinder 58 that is fitted with a slide block 60 by which it may be set and clamped in place on an adjustment plate 62, that is secured between the frame side plates 12 and 14, to extend the piston rod 64 thereof for hearing at the opposing edge of the side jamb S to press the lower edge thereof against the underlying edge portion of the casing piece C during the securing operation. The disposition of this second power cylinder 58 is again aligned on an axis of 45 to that of the first power cylinder 42 so as to act in right angular relation to the previously noted foot member 48.

As mentioned earlier, the first fastener forming and inserting means 18 employs an operating head of the sort disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,1 12,056 which is turned on its side to operate horizontally for the toenailing operation. Otherwise, the fastener means incorporates an operating arrangement closely comparable to that of the indicated prior patent. The second fastener inserting and forming means 22, however, while corresponding generally with the disclosure of US Pat. No. 2,566,104, is specially adapted in several respects for use according to the present invention. In the first place it is mounted between the frame side plates 12 and 14 solely on an eccentric shaft 66 that is journaled in the side plates for setting at selected positions of rotation about its axis, as by a hand wheel as indicated at 68 in FIGS. 3 and 4, so that countersinking of the fasteners f" inserted can be adjusted to the extent desired.

Secondly, the fastener means 22 includes a fluidactuated power cylinder 70 for operating it and an arrangement by which the working stroke actuated from this cylinder is caused to feed a fastener length of wire from the supply thereof as well as to form a fastener from the fed length and insert it. For this purpose, the power cylinder is installed on a carrier plate 72 that is attached in turn to a mounting block 74 for the operating head of the fastener means 22, the previously mentioned eccentric shaft 66 forming the support on which this mounting block 74 is carried to support the unit. The carrier plate 72 extends to dispose the power cylinder in operating alignment with the axis on which fasteners are inserted from the fastener means 22, and carrier plate 72 is apertured to allow extension of a piston rod 76 therethrough from the power cylinder 70 and to allow concentric disposition of a compression spring 78 therearound in bottoming relation at the adjacent face of power cylinder 70.

The spring 78 acts oppositely on a feed bar 80 that has a lateral portion assembled slidably on the piston rod 76 and confined thereon by a lock nut 82 that also serves to fix the screw-threaded shank of a plunger 84 with a threaded bore (not shown) at the extending end of piston rod 76. The longitudinal leg of feed bar 80 reaches slidably into the operating head where it carries a lug 86 engaging a wire feed block 88 in the usual manner, so that whenever a working stroke of the piston rod 76 is initiated the first result is to release the feed bar 80 to the biasing pressure of spring 78 as the lock nut 82 moves away. Release of the feed bar 80 in this manner delivers the pressure of spring 78 through the feed bar lug 86 to advance the feed block 88 in the feeding direction and thereby draw a fastener length of wire from the supply being directed to the operating head through the guide 90 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The fastener length of wire thus advanced is directed into a fastener forming and inserting knife assembly 92 employed in the unit, and the continuing working stroke of the plunger 84 then causes shifting of the knife assembly 92 to cut the fed fastener length to form a fastener and position it in alignment with the plunger 84 for driving insertion in the manner of the previously noted US. Pat. No. 2,566,104.

The knife assembly 92 used in the second fastener means 22 is suitably one of the sort arranged to form blunt ended fasteners f' from 19 gauge wire, while the first fastener means 18 is preferably equipped to cut the wire supply diagonally for forming pointed fasteners f' of 15 gauge size. The first fastener means 18 is conveniently operated from an electric motor, while all of the other operating motions are actuated from the previously mentioned power cylinders, all of which are double acting. An operating cycle proceeds from depression of the foot treadle 26, after door frame components are put in place for securing, to actuate all of the power cylinders 42, 58 and 70, as well as engaging the motor drive for the first fastener means 18. The first two power cylinders 42 and 58 bring the clamping means to bear in the foregoing manner on the door frame components so as to hold them locally against the toenailing and square nailing of the fasteners f and f while the third power cylinder 70, and the operating drive for the first fastener means 18, actuate the insertion of these fasteners in timed relation, the actual fastener insertion being delayed sufficiently to allow the clamping means to take hold first by the fact that driving of the fasteners does not take place until the latter portion of the working stroke of the respective driving plungers. The operating cycle is completed by recovery strokes that return the clamping means and fastener means to initial position for commencing a succeeding cycle as soon as the door frame components have been repositioned for further securing at a suitable interval along their length.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise to excludeany variation or equivalent arrangement that would be apparent from, or reasonably suggested by, the foregoing disclosure to the skill of the art.

I claim:

1. The method of preparing door frame casing piece and side jamb assemblies at an off-site location for job site installation, which method comprises providing a supply of door frame casing pieces and side jambs at said off-site location, matching a casing piece and a side jamb from said supply and holding the same in door frame relation with a flat inner face of the casing piece less than fully overlapping a square end face of the side jamb, and, while holding the same, toenailing said side jamb to said casing piece and square nailing said casing piece to said side jamb, whereby the resulting assembly is secured with sufficient strength to withstand handling damage effectively during delivery to and installation at a job site.

2. The method of preparing door frame casing piece and side jamb assemblies at an off-site location for job site installation as defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that said toenailing and square nailing is done adjacently.

3. The method of preparing door frame casing piece and side jamb assemblies at an off-site location for job site installation as defined in claim 2 and further characterized in that said adjacent toenailing and square nailing is repeated at spaced locations lengthwise of said matched casing piece and side jamb. 

1. The method of preparing door frame casing piece and side jamb assemblies at an off-site location for job site installation, which method comprises providing a supply of door frame casing pieces and side jambs at said off-site location, matching a casing piece and a side jamb from said supply and holding the same in door frame relation with a flat inner face of the casing piece less than fully overlapping a square end face of the side jamb, and, while holding the same, toenailing said side jamb to said casing piece and sQuare nailing said casing piece to said side jamb, whereby the resulting assembly is secured with sufficient strength to withstand handling damage effectively during delivery to and installation at a job site.
 2. The method of preparing door frame casing piece and side jamb assemblies at an off-site location for job site installation as defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that said toenailing and square nailing is done adjacently.
 3. The method of preparing door frame casing piece and side jamb assemblies at an off-site location for job site installation as defined in claim 2 and further characterized in that said adjacent toenailing and square nailing is repeated at spaced locations lengthwise of said matched casing piece and side jamb. 